━━ 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 - 𝐕𝟐 | open

[horserex]

Audrielle/Audrey

female, 22, animal trainer, pan, tags: Zeke

After Malcolm and Annika walked away Audrey decided it would probably be a good idea to go check on the smaller canines. "I'm going to go check on the foxes and dingoes," she said. "Do you want to come with me, Zeke? I can show you some of the enclosures on the way."

Jasmine

female, 14, harbor seal, pan, tags: Beatrix, Malcolm

"Okay then hello Trix," Jasmine said cheerily to the large eyed cat. They were just about to round a corner when Jasmine noticed a human. She had only seen the man a couple of times, but when she did see him it was always in a white room with scary metal contraptions, not her best memories. "Trix there's a human over there what should we do?" she whispered.

Clove

male, 7, african wild dog, Bi, tags: open

Clove was just waking up from a brief nap when he had a sudden flash of pain. It was unlike anything he had felt before. He struggled to get to his feet but to no avail, he tried again but his efforts were only met with more pain. The pain was almost unbearable by the time Clove actually managed to get up. Standing turned out to be a huge mistake though, Clove whimpered as he collapsed to the ground, then suddenly the world went black.

[OutFoxed]

Zeke Matthews
——☾ ✧ ☽

⯭ 26
⯭ Zoologist
⯭ Staff Room
⯭ New Arrival
⯭ //Staff - Malcolm, Annika, Audrey

Listening closer to the ongoing conversation, Zeke's eyebrows drew lower over his dark eyes as the depth of the situation settled on him. If life in the bush had taught him anything - it was to always be ready.
He stepped out of the doorway and walked over to the table, finding an empty chair to rest his bag and jacket on while his eyes flowed from one speaker to the next.

"I'm here to help - whatever you need. Just preferably not as bait, but it wouldn't be the first time" He said eagerly, then his mouth kept running without permission and really hoped he didn't harm his first impression with a bad pun. When the young woman, Annika did she say, started passing out radios, Zeke accepted his with an open hand. He felt the familiar weight of the electronic device as he slid the clip on top his belt for easy reach. He was intrigued to hear that the brunette was also a zoologist - he was eager to chat her up about all the care and work that she (and him) was doing for the park.

Unfortunately for Zeke - he was still a bit mystified by exactly what had happened and the specific locations for the enclosures. Obviously there was a bit of a crisis - but he was almost useless in the actual going-ons of the facility. He hadn't even had a map to familiarize himself with. It was with some relief when the other young woman offered for him to come with. "Yes, absolutely! I appreciate it. Again - I'll do anything I can to help. Can't say this is my first round up - but I have no idea where anything is." His eagerness was becoming a bit too apparent with his rambling mouth. He crossed the staff room and followed close behind the long-haired lady.

ᔕ ⯎ ᔓ

Queenie ＆ Yankee

⩺ River Otter
⩺ 2 | Female ﹠ Male
⩺ Aquatic Center
⩺ // Open
⩺ Hello World | All Mine!

There was nothing better to an otter's life than to glide through water. Yankee practiced an underwater backflip as he reached the end of the pool, kicking off the wall with his back feet. He lazily swum past the rocks on the bottom, undulating his body as necessary to maintain momentum but otherwise his front paws hung limply at his side. His long tail occasionally swayed to steer his body around the river rocks and up toward the far end where the waterfall slide was. Yankee lifted his body out of the water onto a flat platform rock which was protected from the waterfall. It was a neat little hidey hole but wasn't very dry due to the constant splashing and water spray. To his dismay - the space was already occupied by his obnoxious sister!

⬩ ♕ ⬩

The sudden appearance of her soaking wet sibling caused Queenie to screech indignantly! How could that stupid troublesome boy wander up into her space! He knew she was here - and if he didn't, well he was dumb.
Chittering out unwelcome tones, she made it clear that this was a Queenie only club house and brothers were not allowed. She was also not-so-subtle attempting to hide her half eaten fish behind her back - and was not very successful.

In a moment there was a muted splash and an extra smattering of water droplets - and she was finally by herself again. Queenie sort of felt bad with how she treated her brother, the look of disappointment and sadness on his face as he turned to dive back into the pool, made her feel bad. She would have to make it up to him - but for the moment, there was fish to devour!

ᔕ ⯎ ᔓ

⸺𐩗 Silence 𐩗⸺

❖ Barred Owl
❖ 9 | Female
❖ Raptor Aviary
❖ // Bruce
❖ Resting

A low call from nearby caused Silence's feathered eyelids to flick open and revealed dark eyes beneath. She rustled her striped feathers to show her discontent at being disturbed, again that morning. She snapped her orange beak to show her displeasure at the larger bird. The lives of the ground creatures were less interesting than her own, with the occasional tasty snack. The only thing she noted about the hubbub going on outside the enclosure was how much it was disturbing her rest! With a final click of her beak, she hoped the Great Horned would discontinue his commentary and let sleep succumb him. Or he could keep watch and update her later on when she awoke. Either suited her just fine, but rest was the only thing she cared about. With a final tuck of her leg feathers, Silence let her grey eyelids close, shutting out the sunlight.

[.:Friday_The_13th:.]

𝕄𝕠𝕫𝕫𝕚𝕖
Male ... Dingo ... 3 Years ... Tags: Helena, Kjotve, Cecelia, Asani
Mozzie turned and quickly limped along with Helena, his tail low as he felt nervous. He was used to being out of cages, but this was different, the big dens the rangers made were all around and seemed suffocating. "Is there a place we can hide?" He asked.

____________________________

𝔖𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔪
Female ... Siberian Tiger ... 4 Years ... Tags: Open
...

_____________________________

Ｋｊｏｔｖｅ
Male ... Kodiak Bear ... 4 Years ... Tags: Open
The massive bear galloped through the stone walls, his heart raced and he let out deep huffs and growls. "Cece! Asani!" He roared and stood up on his hind legs to look around the area, he felt worried for his smaller companions. Panic gripping his mind like a snake around it's prey, he let out another bellow to call for the cubs before continuing on his path. The large brown bear stood on his hind legs in front of several buildings.

_______________________________


𝓝𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓸𝓴
Female... Mountain Lion .... 3 Years ... Tags: Moore
The medium sized cougar flicked her ears pridefully before resting her head back down and dozing in the sprinkling of sunlight.

_______________________________


𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎
Male... Great Horned Owl... 8 Years... Tags: Open
Bruce watched her for a moment, he turned his head away from her to let the annoyed female rest, Bruce didn't usually talk to anyone so the words he uttered sounded off to him, his wings flicking their feathers until they rested smoothly against his body. He blinked a few times before settling quietly.


________________________________


ᏖᎧᏦᏝᎧ
Male ... North American Elk ... 5 Years ... Tags: Open
...


________________________________


Oƙα
Female ... Red Kangaroo ... 4 Years ... Tags:
Oka flicked her ears back before looking over at the fence. "New animal maybe?" She asked and bounded over to the fence line, she stretched herself up to get a better look.

[Spiritstar3]

Giselle- f- 5 y- tiger- mate: Aurelio- cubs: adopted Chiku, others on the way (2 weeks pregnant)- Tags: Aurelio, Chiku
The cream striped white female smiled back at him, unable to ever seem to help it. She remembered when they'd become mates, and even before that. They'd been great friends before that. Now, she had cubs in her belly as a result, and their adopted one. She was so immensely proud of herself and her mate. She was proud of Chiku, and would one day be proud of these cubs.

She smiled as she watched the cub run up to her, and listened. It seemed her mate did have the same idea as her. "Okay," she said to Chiku, sparing Salem a glance but she was sleeping. She then walked over to the other two, saying "I'm ready."

Orinn- m- 4 y- golden eyes Lynx- homosexual; crush is Sybil- super shy boy- Tags: Sybil
The tan and brown or black Lynx -sleeping-

Moore- m- 8 mo- cougar- Questioning; crush might be Reeka even though they're separated by a fence- being raised by Nana- Tags: Nana
The darker headed tannish cub rested a moment more. He then made his way up to another branch, a couple branches below Nana.

Chronos- m- 3 y- Wolf- asexual homoromantic; crush: Saturn- pups: if he and Saturn get together he'll ‘adopt’ Mars as his- Tags: Saturn and Mars
The black phase wolf with golden and brown eyes twitched a bit. He glanced to the other wolf and pup, then laid back down.

Helena- f- 2 y- Dingo- pan; crush is Mozzie- no mate until she’s 3- no young until then either- Tags: Mozzie, Kjotve and co
The tan and white or off white female moved brown ears a bit. She twitched her nose, flicking her tail as she looked around. She soon saw a place that might actually work. "Over there," she said, and began to walk towards it.

Miles- m- 3 y- coyote w/dog blood- homo; Phoenix- mate is open- no pups yet- Tags: Phoenix
The oddly gray, blue brown heterochromatic male seemed to think about it. "I mean, they probably both are, but I don't know. We could try talking and chasing, and if that doesn't work we can switch to play fighting. Then again, play fighting and talking may be hard too...but if so we just find something else to do," he said.

Harpper- f- 6 mo- seal- heterosexual- crush open- no babies until she’s 3 or older- Tags: Everly
The little black muzzled white seal made a small sound. She let the other seal snuggle her, and hadn't realized her heart was actually hammering. She did now, but didn't let on she was nervous. She nodded, then at the next questions said "Yeah! She went towards the cats...I think," she then said.

Noon- m- 2 y- Zebra- Asexual- no mate ever (unless it's a male)- would have to adopt- Tags: X
The zebra snorted and moved his ears a bit. His tail swished and twitched back and forth as he continued to walk along.

Jessa- f- 4 y- Red kangaroo- Pan; Oka- mate open- no offspring- Tags: Oka
The red female said "I...don't know about that one. They sounded pretty worried, or...something," she said. She headed to the fence too, seeing Noon off in the distance. "The zebra is out...how'd he get out?" she asked.

[SilentMelody]

Malcolm - male - 25yo - veterinarian - crush: Annika - tags: Jasmine & Beatrix
He gratefully took a walkie talkie from Annika, turning it on briefly to check if it was working. All of them would need communication if they wanted no incidents with the animals. It seemed that the others were occupied now, and Malcolm needed to check on the kennels as he promised. He didn't know if any of the animals in the kennels had escaped, but he needed to make sure. As he exited "building C" and walked on the sidewalk towards "building B", he paused in his tracks at a very peculiar sight. A seal and a serval? "Annika! Zeke!" he shouted, as a way to ask for their help. He crouched down, although he was yards away from the two animals, and held out a hand. He knew that Jasmine was friendly, but Beatrix... she was certainly a feisty little feline.

Hastiin - male - 7yo - hawk - crush: open - tags: open
He was watching the commotion going on outside of the aviary enclosure, seeing the screaming humans. And the animals were already running amok, leaving as fast as they could. But where would they go?

Aurelio - male - 6yo - tiger - mate: Giselle - tags: Giselle & Chiku
He smiled down at Chiku, who had already sprinted to and from her mother and her father to relay the plan. "Perfect!" Aurelio chuffed and raised his head to look over at Giselle. She seemed to be concerned about Salem, who was sleeping a few paces away. Probably best not to disturb her, he thought to himself. "Okay then! I am the evil Aurelio, and I am here to rule the jungle," he announced and waved a paw at the enclosure. Aurelio let out a sudden, loud roar and clawed at the ground with his front paws. It was all for show, and his gestures were with flourish on top of his acting skill. "And no one can stop me!"

Everly - female - 6yo - seal - crush: open - tags: Harpper
She looked down at her little one and listened intently to the details she was telling her about. The larger seal let out a small gasp at her words and glanced towards the cat enclosures, where most of them resided. "Goodness, why would she do that? Well, let's try to find her. You stay behind me and stay safe Harpper, okay?"

Dewdrop - female - 4yo - deer - crush: open - tags: Noon
She saw a familiar figure trotting by, and she cantered until she was beside the young zebra. "Hi Noon," she greeted softly and a little breathlessly. Dewdrop's nostrils flared and she inhaled a deep breath. She still felt nervous about the commotion outside of the enclosure. "Do you know what's going on with the other animals?"

Beatrix - female - 3yo - serval - crush: open - tags: Jasmine
She nearly bumped into Jasmine when she stopped, and she was about to hiss at the seal when she noticed what she was looking at. It was that human -- the one that always captured her and hurt her! Stuffed her full of medications and pricked her with metal under her skin. "We have to attack him!" Trix insisted with a low growl in her throat.

Phoenix - male - 3yo - coyote - crush: Miles - tags: Miles
He waited for Miles to make a decision, still feeling a bit impatient as his tail wagged with excitement. "Okay, sure! Good idea, Miles, you're so smart. So, try to catch me!" Phoenix blurted out with a wide grin. He suddenly stood up and shot off. The coyote was sprinting around the enclosure at a brisk pace, but he would kick it up a notch once Miles actually started chasing after him.

Cecelia - female - 6mo - red panda - crush: open - tags: open
As she struggled to catch her breath, she began to feel a bit helpless. Where did Asani run? Was Kjotve still in the same place she had left him? Cece wished she hadn't run from them, but now she was safe. Well, at least safe from animals that could hurt her. She sniffed and coughed, still wheezing as her chest heaved.

[horserex]

Audrielle/Audrey

female, 22, animal trainer, pan, tags: Zeke, Malcolm

"Well are you ready to put your round-up skills to good use?" Audrey asked Zeke, heading to the kitchen to find some food to lure any escaped animals. She came back with a variety of meat to use as bait when Malcolm said something over the radio about finding Jasmine the seal and Beatrix, the slightly aggressive serval. She turned to Zeke, "I should probably go help Malcolm but you might not want to come with me, I've had some experience with the serval he found and she is particularly difficult to say the least, definitely not the kind of animal you want to have a run in with on your first day. Although if you don't mind becoming a wild cat's chew toy you could still come if you want."

Jasmine

female, 14, harbor seal, pan, tags: Beatrix, Malcolm

Jasmine was worried, she didn't want to hurt the human but she also didn't want to betray Trix's trust or put her in danger. The human seemed to know Jasmine was confused about what to do so he put his hand on the ground. Jasmine knew from training that when a human put their hand on the ground she should come towards them, but she decided she needed to stay by Trix's side at the moment. "Hey maybe we should run instead of fighting," Jasmine suggested. She knew that if they did run she would almost definitely be caught by the human due to her flippers which weren't exactly meant for speed, but it might buy Trix, who would be able to move much faster with her legs, some time to escape.

Clove

male, 7, african wild dog, Bi, tags: open

Clove was still lying in the dirt unconscious.

[Spiritstar3]

Giselle- f- 5 y- tiger- mate: Aurelio- cubs: adopted Chiku, others on the way (2 weeks pregnant)- Tags: Aurelio, Chiku
The cream striped white female smiled as she watched the cub run up to her, and listened. It seemed her mate did have the same idea as her. "Okay," she said to Chiku, sparing Salem a glance but she was sleeping. She then walked over to the other two, saying "I'm ready."

She almost laughed at his acting, but stopped herself and looked serious. "We're the queen and princess of the jungle, Giselle and Chiku. We won't let you have the jungle!" she said. She crouched down, flicking her tail. She made sure Chiku was watching, so she could learn. She waited, also, to see what Aurelio would say and do now.

Orinn- m- 4 y- golden eyes Lynx- homosexual; crush is Sybil- super shy boy- Tags: Sybil
The tan and brown or black Lynx -sleeping-

Moore- m- 8 mo- cougar- Questioning; crush might be Reeka even though they're separated by a fence- being raised by Nana- Tags: Nana
The darker headed tannish cub rested a moment more. He then made his way up to another branch, a couple branches below Nana.

Chronos- m- 3 y- Wolf- asexual homoromantic; crush: Saturn- pups: if he and Saturn get together he'll ‘adopt’ Mars as his- Tags: Saturn and Mars
The black phase wolf with golden and brown eyes twitched a bit. He glanced to the other wolf and pup, then laid back down.

Helena- f- 2 y- Dingo- pan; crush is Mozzie- no mate until she’s 3- no young until then either- Tags: Mozzie, Kjotve and co
The tan and white or off white female moved brown ears a bit. She twitched her nose, flicking her tail as she looked around. She soon saw a place that might actually work. "Over there," she said, and began to walk towards it.

Miles- m- 3 y- coyote w/dog blood- homo; Phoenix- mate is open- no pups yet- Tags: Phoenix
The oddly gray, blue brown heterochromatic male felt hot under his fur at that. He was pretty sure that was a compliment? Shaking his head, he then nodded to the other male. "Okay," he said, then rushed after him. While doing so, he asked "So...what's your favorite food? That's always a good one to ask," he said.

Harpper- f- 6 mo- seal- heterosexual- crush open- no babies until she’s 3 or older- Tags: Everly
The little black muzzled white seal made a small sound. She felt worry for Jasmine, and looked up at Everly. "I...I don't know why but she went off that direction." She pointed, pretty sure that direction led towards the felines anyway.

Noon- m- 2 y- Zebra- Asexual- no mate ever (unless it's a male)- would have to adopt- Tags: X
The zebra snorted and moved his ears a bit. His tail swished, and he jumped a bit as his deer friend appeared and spoke.

Jessa- f- 4 y- Red kangaroo- Pan; Oka- mate open- no offspring- Tags: Oka
The red female said "I...don't know about that one. They sounded pretty worried, or...something," she said. She headed to the fence too, seeing Noon off in the distance. "The zebra is out...how'd he get out?" she asked. "Oh, Dewdrop; I have no clue what's going on...There's holes in some fences, and the humans weren't around."

[.:Friday_The_13th:.]

𝕄𝕠𝕫𝕫𝕚𝕖
Male ... Dingo ... 3 Years ... Tags: Helena
The ginger toned male limped over to a thicker of bushes and lay down panting, his leg ached and he tried to lick at it but the thick casing that the Rangers put on him blocked the rasp of his tongue. "Let's hope we don't run into that guy again." He said about Kjotve, still being able to hear the bears roars from somewhere in the park.

____________________________

𝔖𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔪
Female ... Siberian Tiger ... 4 Years ... Tags: Open
Salem lifted her head and opened glittery yellow eyes, her pupils small as she had been dozing. Salem was a Siberian tiger, the largest of the species and for a female she was surprisingly large.
She shook out her neck fur before parting her jaws in a large yawn.
"Well now little one." She hummed with a distinct Russian tone. "I don't know if your parents want a cat like me around." She said in a rather soothing tone, Salem had a history of violence since she had been taken from her wild home.

_____________________________

Ｋｊｏｔｖｅ
Male ... Kodiak Bear ... 4 Years ... Tags: Open
The massive bear galloped through the stone walls, his heart raced and he let out deep huffs and growls. "Cece! Asani!" He roared and stood up on his hind legs to look around the area, he felt worried for his smaller companions. Panic gripping his mind like a snake around it's prey, he let out another bellow to call for the cubs before continuing on his path. The large brown bear stood on his hind legs in front of several buildings.

_______________________________


𝓝𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓸𝓴
Female... Mountain Lion .... 3 Years ... Tags: Moore
The medium sized cougar flicked her ears pridefully before resting her head back down and dozing in the sprinkling of sunlight.

_______________________________


𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎
Male... Great Horned Owl... 8 Years... Tags: Open
Bruce watched her for a moment, he turned his head away from her to let the annoyed female rest, Bruce didn't usually talk to anyone so the words he uttered sounded off to him, his wings flicking their feathers until they rested smoothly against his body. He blinked a few times before settling quietly.


________________________________


ᏖᎧᏦᏝᎧ
Male ... North American Elk ... 5 Years ... Tags: Open
...


________________________________


Oƙα
Female ... Red Kangaroo ... 4 Years ... Tags:
The rather large female pressed her ears forward and hooked her front paws in the fence to see if she could see anything. "Are they letting us free?" She asked.

[Spiritstar3]

Giselle- f- 5 y- tiger- mate: Aurelio- cubs: adopted Chiku, others on the way (2 weeks pregnant)- Tags: Aurelio, Chiku
The cream striped white female almost laughed at his acting, but stopped herself and looked serious. "We're the queen and princess of the jungle, Giselle and Chiku. We won't let you have the jungle!" she said. She crouched down, flicking her tail. She made sure Chiku was watching, so she could learn. She waited, also, to see what Aurelio would say and do now.

When Chiku took off towards Salem, Giselle made a small sound...However, Salem didn't appear like she'd attack or hurt the cub. Giselle relaxed only a little, watchful of the two of them. She didn't know if she should speak up, to say they were trying to teach Chiku.

Orinn- m- 4 y- golden eyes Lynx- homosexual; crush is Sybil- super shy boy- Tags: Sybil
The tan and brown or black Lynx -sleeping-

Moore- m- 8 mo- cougar- Questioning; crush might be Reeka even though they're separated by a fence- being raised by Nana- Tags: Nana
The darker headed tannish cub made his way up another. He then stopped and looked down, which turned out to be a mistake... "High...too high!" he cried, since he didn't know how to get down. He now knew how to go up, but nit back down.

Chronos- m- 3 y- Wolf- asexual homoromantic; crush: Saturn- pups: if he and Saturn get together he'll ‘adopt’ Mars as his- Tags: Saturn and Mars
The black phase wolf with golden and brown eyes twitched a bit. He glanced to the other wolf and pup, then laid back down.

Helena- f- 2 y- Dingo- pan; crush is Mozzie- no mate until she’s 3- no young until then either- Tags: Mozzie, Kjotve and co
The tan and white or off white female moved brown ears a bit. She pawed at his cast, but she wasn't really much help either. She had hidden in the bushes beside him, of course. She laid down now, and said "I don't think we will, since he went off after those cubs."

Miles- m- 3 y- coyote w/dog blood- homo; Phoenix- mate is open- no pups yet- Tags: Phoenix
The oddly gray, blue brown heterochromatic male felt hot under his fur at that. He was pretty sure that was a compliment? Shaking his head, he then nodded to the other male. "Okay," he said, then rushed after him. While doing so, he asked "So...what's your favorite food? That's always a good one to ask," he said.

Harpper- f- 6 mo- seal- heterosexual- crush open- no babies until she’s 3 or older- Tags: Everly
The little black muzzled white seal made a small sound. She felt worry for Jasmine, and looked up at Everly. "I...I don't know why but she went off that direction." She pointed, pretty sure that direction led towards the felines anyway.

Noon- m- 2 y- Zebra- Asexual- no mate ever (unless it's a male)- would have to adopt- Tags: X
The zebra snorted and moved his ears a bit. His tail swished, and he jumped a bit as his deer friend appeared and spoke. "Oh, Dewdrop; I have no clue what's going on...There's holes in some fences, and the humans weren't around."

Jessa- f- 4 y- Red kangaroo- Pan; Oka- mate open- no offspring- Tags: Oka
The red female said "I...somehow don't think they're letting us out," she said. She shook her head, seeing a deer with the zebra. "Something must have happened to the fences or gates. The others must be escaping," she said.

[OutFoxed]

Zeke Matthews
——☾ ✧ ☽

⯭ 26
⯭ Zoologist
⯭ Staff Room | Outside
⯭ Here Kitty Kitty
⯭ //Staff - Malcolm, Annika, Audrey

A shout broke through the quiet; the distance skewed the words but the tone was clear: Get Here Now! He was about to run out the door when a closer voice called him back. A bit cartoonish - he slid to a halt and swung around to look at the clearly organized and logical Audrey as she quickly grabbed necessary items for lure and baiting. He listened carefully to what the animal trainer said, his brow furrowing deeper and drawing further down over his eyes with every word. "Wild. Cat. Chew. Toy." He repeated in a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Uh, okay. Umm, no thanks then."

Zeke's gazed slid over to watch what the other zoologist was doing and noticed that she was going for the tranqs and darts. It was a very practical procedure and new that most people didn't appreciate using them. He'd learned the value of them when working in the field - it really saved lives from humans and animals. The stress that was averted through a tranquilizer could literally help save an animal from dying of fear or a heart attack. And it sounded like this situation a few heavily armed and potentially dangerous creatures were on the roam. The team was on a race against time before the animals started hurting themselves, each other, or the people.

Taking into account what Audrey had said, Zeke figured he might as well circle around to see who else was on the loose - a better idea of who and what they were working with might give his colleagues time to come up with a game plan to corralling them. Taking a deep breath, Zeke stepped out of the safe enclosure of the staff room and headed out. He saw the back of Annika and her swinging ponytail and instead of following to the safety of numbers (and a seal and an attack serval?) he turned around and marched off into the great unknown - literally. He didn't even have time to study a map to figure out exactly where he was going. And as it wasn't a typical zoo designed for tourist - there was probably limited signage to follow the happy trail to the friendly little meerkat colony. The experienced twenty-six year old would never admit that he gulped when he truly thought about the task he was about to do; maybe facing down a ferocious lion or maybe it would be cuddly koala.